New Anti-corruption Legislation Introduced in Duma

Irina Yarovaya, head of the State Duma's Anti-Corruption and Security Committee, has introduced legislation that would increase the severity of punishment for those found guilty of corruption and theft of state funds.

The bill would introducing the concept of "corruption-related crime," which would carry a maximum sentence of 15 years and fines of up to 5 million rubles ($160,000), RIA Novosti reported.

Currently, there is no specific article in the criminal code focusing on corruption, and transgressors are generally charged under the fraud statute, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The legislation would include a list of 46 specific corruption-related crimes to combat what Yarovaya called a "significant social menace."

"An important innovation is that the bill introduces a mechanism to control costs when bringing legal action against figures suspected of corruption," Yarovaya told RIA Novosti. "At the same time it will become possible to recover illegally appropriated state funds."